What is intuitive eating and why intuition often fails

It is almost impossible to find a universal diet pill in the conditions of life in a big city. The cult of individuality and the variety of offers for quick and easy weight loss predetermine confusion: which sport to choose for weight loss, which diet to prefer, what to limit, and what to allow yourself to eat. At the center of dietary nutrition is the "prohibition", which the body most often regards as a threat to life. That is why, after prolonged restrictions, there comes a panic desire to eat fatter and sweeter food. So, kilograms successfully double in almost a week.

Instead of a similar scenario, in the 2000s, another method was found, less traumatic, to first lose weight and then maintain weight – intuitive eating. This is a system of interaction with your body, when food is conditioned by the needs displayed by hunger.

The most difficult thing about this system – be able to unravel the signals, that is, to distinguish between true and false hunger. Nutrition after short-term fasting, as many followers of the scheme think, saves you from overeating, the body receives the food it requires and no more.

However, in a modern city it is very difficult to control your hunger, and if you mishandle such a scheme, you can gain significant weight instead of losing weight. Therefore, today many nutritionists explain what intuitive eating is and why it is fraught with many traps for residents of megacities.

What is intuitive eating: good or bad for the body

Eating intuitively – it means listening to the urges of your body and eating what exactly the body lacks. Do not confuse the principles of "intuitive eating" with proper, conscious, dietary nutrition.

The answer to the question of what is intuitive eating and what can be eaten with such a scheme is simple – there are no rules or restrictions. I want to eat a cake or a chocolate bar – you can, bread or cookies – also allowed. This does not apply to those moments when eating sweet and starchy foods is for emotional release or as a way to cope with your fears.

So, what is at the center of the intuitive eating mechanism:

it doesn't matter when you eat or what you choose to eat;
not permissiveness, but not a restriction – follow the urges of the body;
not a diet for weight loss, but rather a tool for sensitive understanding of the needs of the body.

When you can't decide between low-fat cottage cheese and full-fat yogurt or crispbread and a ruddy bun, while choosing those products that are far from dietary – characterizes a clear misunderstanding of their needs. Wouldn't it be better to ask yourself what exactly the body requires: fat, low fat, or maybe just thirsty?

After all, so often in the conditions of a variety of offers in supermarkets, we get confused in our feelings: thirst, hunger or appetite. The editors of estet-portal.com recommend that before starting the transition to intuitive eating, you should understand the urges of your body in order to distinguish between thirst, hunger and appetite.

The imaginary permissiveness in food with intuitive eating can bring far from weight loss, but rather fat gain, if the principles of such a scheme are incorrectly interpreted.

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What is the catch of the intuitive eating system: 5 reasons for discord with your body

Intuition can fail in the simplest choice of products, there are enough traps in stores for food lovers. In addition to the attractiveness of products (look, smell), manufacturers of harmful products seek to stimulate the pleasure center in the brain as actively as possible after eating sweets, fast food, donuts. Thus, a person wants to constantly feel the pleasure of eating and is guided by this desire in the choice of food.

Intuitive Eating: Quick Meal

The accelerated pace of life predetermines the pace of eating. There is less and less time for breakfast or lunch, it remains only to have a quick snack on the run at best. Added to this is irregular food intake. Under such conditions, it is difficult for the body to assess the situation, just as it is impossible for the brain to navigate the true needs of the cells.

Therefore, in order to fully understand why the body wanted a hamburger instead of fruit, you need to stop and look at it from the outside, ask yourself a few questions: when was the last time you drank clean water, what emotional state prevails now, what worries first of all – hunger, thirst or habitual tag for junk food? Or maybe you don’t want to eat, but just drink?

(Blockcode) By not giving in to emotions, but by reflecting on each of your sensations, you can gradually learn to listen to your intuition, eating right. In other cases, intuition will fail, replacing the correct eating behavior with habitual ones.

Intuitive Eating: Eating Everything, Indiscriminately

Hundreds of years ago, mankind ate only those products that they grew themselves, without chemical processing and giving artificial taste. The most healthy food saturates faster and retains energy reserves longer. People got more fiber from vegetables and fruits, polyunsaturated fatty acids from seafood, fish, seeds, vitamins and microelements. Today, vegetables and fruits grown in the natural environment, – an unprecedented rarity, instead of them, trans fats, toxic additives, sugar in all sorts of variations flaunt on store shelves. You can’t resist such a temptation, where can you listen to your intuition when the body asks for a sugar boom.

Intuitive eating behavior requires being guided by the body's clear signals of thirst or hunger, avoiding the temptation to sweeten an emotional breakdown.

The choice is yours: either manage your desires and needs first until the cravings for salty, sweet, unhealthy food disappear, or continue to fall into the trap of junk food.

We do not distinguish between hunger and appetite

Eating something from the category of "sweet-delicious", the body gets pleasure by releasing the hormone dopamine. And the more food that can trigger the release, the brighter and sweeter the pleasure. Thus, food – it is the easiest way to improve your mood and calm down. There is nothing wrong with this kind of eating behavior, the problems start when the sensations of appetite and hunger are equated.

Appetite – This is the body's desire to enjoy food. Hunger – the physiological need of the body to eat, which is accompanied by characteristic signs: slight dizziness, rumbling in the stomach, weakness, loss of strength. With such a state of health, it doesn’t matter what food should be: salad, porridge or a cracker crust.

This does not mean that you have to wait until your eyes turn black to distinguish between appetite and hunger. But it is worth remembering the hours of break between meals.

Can't control hormones

You can't lose weight with diets and intuitive eating at the same time. The longer the body is starving, the amount of energy that is needed to ensure life and adapt to new conditions decreases. Like the hormonal background, it cannot immediately be rebuilt. Appetite control hormones continue to be produced, stimulating food seeking and preventing hunger. In this case, intuition will push in every possible way to eat more food.

(Blockcode) Make a clear choice: lose weight and diet first, then master the mechanics of intuitive eating. Otherwise, the opposite effect is expected, and health problems will not keep you waiting.

We do not take into account the need for vitamins

It is not recommended to forget about taking special vitamin complexes. With a lack of certain vitamins or microelements, the brain loses the ability to control the amount of food and its quality, so there is an unconscious absorption of everything in a row, as an attempt to normalize the level of essential substances. Such craving for "eating" almost uncontrollable and leads to an eating disorder. Intuition will not work, because other signals are turned on, at a deeper and more persistent level.

It is possible to lose weight and maintain the weight at the desired level with the help of intuitive eating, but with the right preparation and a full understanding of the signals of your body.